Supplements: Do You Take Them And They Work?

In My Humble Opinion
1

For the last year or so, I have been taking a lot of supplements. The reasons vary, from “my doctor told me to” to wanting my hair to grow fast. A list of things I take:

Fish oil- As that old commercial informs, “I lowered my cholesterol!” By 15 points in the last few months. I am happy.

Calcium- Of course, everyone knows that women should take calcium to prevent osteoporosis in the old age. Has vitamin D as well.

Vitamin D3- I work for dermatologists, and a lot of research is coming out in support of lots of vit d if you don’t get much sun, which I don’t, even though I live in a very sunny place.

Chromium picolinate- I take that because of some old vague research that showed it possibly helps with blood sugar control and weight loss? And because my doctor told me to.

B12- Kind of a pain in the ass to hold it under your tongue until it dissolves, but my doctor said.

Magnesium- That’s for muscle twitches that I get as a side effect from another medication. Does not help that much but I take it anyway.

Biotin- the derms I work for are split as to whether extra biotin benefits your hair or nails, so I take it just in case it does. I’m trying to grow my hair out fast so I can get a perm. I think it’s helping but it could be my imagination.

Multivitamin- To round out my other vitamin and mineral-related needs.

I recently had extensive blood work that tested levels of things like magnesium, dhromium, b12, etc., and my levels were all right in the middle of normal, so maybe these things are helping, or maybe they’d be normal even if I didn’t take them, who knows? I take them anyway, just in case.

Care to share what you take, and if you think they help?

2

No I don’t take supplements. Several years back I began to eat a balanced diet, meaning I eat foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, fibers and healthy carbohydrates. I’ve lost in toto probably 80 pounds over 3 years. I look and feel really good - for a guy pushing 40 I think thats pretty good. I am not a dieter. Ok let me say that again, I am not a dieter. I eat what I like to eat otherwise this wouldnt work. So in my search for healthy good tasting foods I have come to quite an eclectic mix of what I like to eat. I’m pretty happy because I have a lot of diversity in my life in terms of what I eat…but vitamin and mineral richs foods are out there and do play an important role in my health.

3

I take a few supplements, of which I have no idea whether they “work,” but I do know that Vitamin C works for me. I started taking that years and years ago when Linus Pauling first touted it to prevent colds. I take about 200 mg per day, but if I start to get sniffles or a scratchy throat, I gulp down 1000 mg for a day or so.

In the last 30-40 years I have never, ever had a cold! It may be psychological or physiological, but i don’t care as long as I never get colds anymore. :smiley:

4

I take a multivitamin. I hear they’re crap, but my doctor knows I take it and he’s never said, “You really don’t need to do that,” so I keep taking it.

5

I do that, too. Except quite a bit more and it’s pretty much always worked. Or at least, the cold is much less intense. Yay for Vitamin C!

6

Mayo clinic has a section on their website where they list a lot of popular supplements and they summarize research on whether they work or not. They list it for various conditions so it’s worth checking out.

7

I just eat a balanced diet similar to the mediterranean diet, so I don’t need to supplement, but I do take a prenatal because I’m trying to get pregnant.

I also don’t drink or smoke and I exercise very vigorously five or six days a week (I teach fitness classes).

8

Could you provide a link?

9

Here it is..

I take One A Day Women’s, the one with extra calcium and vitamin D. The doctor who took care of me when I broke my hip said to take it. I haven’t broken a hip in six years – could be the supplement, could be the Fosamax. Or I could just be lucky.

I heard a clinician on NPR the other day who recommended omega-3 oil. He was talking about depression and healthy brain activity rather than heart health, but according to the Mayo Clinic site, it might be a good one to take.

10

Oh, okay, I was looking for something more … tabular. Thanks. :slight_smile:

11

I had my stomach out in '03 (technically still there, just no longer in the plumbing loop) and I don’t absorb a variety of things.

Potassium
Calcium
B12
Iron

I take D3 because I was shown to be deficient (not enough sun.) My nutrionist said 40% are deficient.

Fish Oil for reasons mentioned.

Yes, mostly they work. I am still fatigued OFTEN, but I am better than I was.

12

Calcium+magnesium does seem to help me sleep better, but I don’t really need it now that I’m taking actual drugs. Didn’t really help my tics, though. I’ve heard vitamin E is good for medication-related tics, Alice. Have you looked into that?

I have found valerian root to be good for anxiety and sleeplessness. I used to have occassional insomnia, with in-the-middle-of-the-night dread attacks when I would go to sleep, and the root helped with this. But again, I don’t need it now that I take clonazepam, which I take to help with my movement disorder. That stuff knocks ole girl right out if she just looks at it!

I take a B complex w/ vitamin C. Don’t know if it helps anything, but–along with the Omega 3 that I take–it’s supposed to help with dopamine hypersensitivity, which I deal with. Plus, I think I have more energy when I take the B complex–I feel less depressed. And I have this delightful image of the fatty acids coating my brain cells and protecting them from things that cause schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, both of which I’m at risk for.

13

Which is really the healthiest way to get your nutrients. Supplements, even though recommended by doctors and dietitians, are often of questionable benefit for a couple of reasons. One is that most supplements are unregulated and as long as they don’t make specific health claims are not required to undergo any medical or dietary approval. This means that a vitamin or micronutrient that has been shown to be of nutritional benefit or at least correlated with improved health can be removed from the context in which was studied, processed in a variety of ways which may make it inaccessible or even unhealthy to consume, but indirectly promoted for its health benefits.

Another related problem is that micronutrients don’t work in a vacuum; they need to be consumed in conjunction with other nutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and often other micronutrients) in order to provide benefit. Calcium supplements (mentioned by the o.p.) are a perfect example of this; several studies have indicated that calcium supplements (unlike natural sources of calcium) may have little benefit because of the lack of digestive absorption. Even some foods that are fortified by calcium are questionable; orange juice with calcium added is little better than orange juice without, notwithstanding the fact that orange juice and most other fruit juices are high GI foods with modest to marginal nutritional content. One of the few dietary supplements that has been shown to at least cause no harm and possibly provide benefit is Vitamin C; its ready solubility in water guarantees that it won’t build up to harmful levels in the body, and as previously mentioned Linus Pauling actually did a considerable amount of research into the biochemical effects of Vitamin C, although several of his more exceptional claims have yet to be verified.

In the cases of people with significant dietary restrictions (lactose or gluten intolerance), people who are on a constrained dietary intake (calorie restriction, vegans), and atheletes may need dietary supplementation just because of the difficulty of absorbing adequate nutrients to maintain body function from the standard dietary intake. But for most people, supplements are unnecessary and unhelpful, especially compared to adoption of a diet that consists of a variety of fresh vegetables, a limited amount of mid-GI fruit, whole grains and pseudo-cereals, and a moderate amount of lean meat or complete vegetable proteins, and limiting high fat dairy, fried foods, processed cereal products, and saturated and hydrogenated fats.

Of course, there is one benefit to taking many supplements; supporting the booming dietary supplement industry. Of course, that isn’t a benefit to the end user, but somebody has to provide work to snake-oil salesmen.

Stranger

14

I’m also taking the fish oil, as prescribed by my doctor. I don’t know if it’s helped yet 'coz I haven’t been back yet to check. It is hideously expensive; one month’s worth is $168.

My son took the biotin some years back to make his hair grow faster - and brother did it! On the places where he has hair it is VERY thick.

15

Oh, well, thanks for bursting my bubble, Stranger! :stuck_out_tongue:

I have heard everything you just said from other sources, but as I say, just in case. I am lactose-intolerant and try to stick to 1500 calories, so I think I qualify to take them. Probably won’t hurt. I haven’t taken vitamin E because there’s a lot of contradictory claims made about it. I used to take absolutely nothing, now I have this whole ritual with a handful of pills, every single day. Maybe I’ll live to 110, or not.

16

I usually take the generic version of Men’s One A Day. I figure it can’t hurt.

I did some work for the U of Chicago compiling their stats and I was amazed to find in research studies 20% - 35% of all people get better with the placebo. So I guess it shows it’s not what works but what you THINK will work. :slight_smile:

17

I take an assortment - a good multivitamin, force of habit=)

fish oil for the usual reasons

calcium, magnesium and d for bones

potassium because of the meds I am on

I try to eat at least 3 cloves of garlic a day in my food, 1 small glass red wine, and my oil/fat of choice is olive oil. My dietary indulgence is one large mug of coffee, with caffeine, half and half and sweetened with splenda. I have it with my oatmeal for breakfast =)

I am pretty anal about following the plan from my diabetic nutritionist, and it is pretty balanced.

18

I started taking a prenatal vitamin when I became a vegetarian and WHOA, my hair and nails are growing like crazy and are healthier than ever. I also need to start taking fish oil but can’t seem to find one that doesn’t give me fishy burps despite putting the capsules in the freezer.

19

I’ve heard about the fishy burps, but I’ve never had them. Does that mean I’m not taking enough, or the wrong kind? I just buy mine at the grocery store or Warehouse Vitamins- they’re a lot more like 10 bucks a month than 160. Are they supposed to be prescription?

20

I’ll take omega 3 on occasion in the morning. It helps keep me feeling full on a smaller breakfast. I’ve found though, that drinking coffee goes through the gel coating quicker and so yeah, I get a little fishy flavor. I just drink more coffee.